Before Title IX, only one girl in 27 played a sport. Now, that number is one in three. But even today, girls and women sometimes have a difficult time finding the sports gear in the sizes they need. Betty Eckert understood that dilemma -- she had daughters who played sports. She was once a customer of the business that she ended up buying. She ran it as a residential business for four years before opening her retail store in August.

Q. Where did you get the idea to open this business?

A. Specializing in field hockey equipment, I would go to field hockey tournaments and camps. Now I'm branching out to other women's sports. I played a little bit of field hockey in high school. My dad was in the military, and I went to three different high schools -- I graduated from Denbigh. When two of my daughters were playing sports (field hockey, softball and basketball), I met the gentleman who started this business. Paul Kirby was a field hockey coach in York County, and he found out he had a hard time getting equipment. Now he's the athletic director at Grafton, and he wanted to sell the business because he didn't have time for it anymore.

Q. Where did you get the name Six Daughters Sports?

A. We are a blended family, and we have six daughters. We have his, hers and ours. When they were younger -- teenagers -- they thought the name was cheesy, but they're okay with it now. Actually, my one employee is my daughter Ashley Winebarger.

Q. What strategy has helped you stay profitable despite the downturn in the national economy?

A. I think I provide a product that's not available anywhere else on the Peninsula. Some sporting goods stores will have a FEW things for women. I have a wider variety. Things that we had a problem finding for our daughters, we try to carry in this store.

Q. Like what?

A. Hair scrunchies and sleeve scrunchies. Field hockey sticks. Lady Hoops basketball apparel -- the closest place that carries Lady Hoops is in Washington, D.C. We also have ball bags for basketball, soccer, volleyball...The ball bag was invented by a gentleman in California who used to carry his basketball when he was riding his bike. He fell off his bike several times carrying his basketball, so when he grew up, he invented a ball bag. You can get a ball bag, or you can get a ball bag with a water bottle and an air pump. Guys can use those, too. We also sell socks for guys. We carry Bendos -- bendable figures, and some kids collect them, and Chuckies -- personalized pictures of sports, occupations and hobbies. We also have maternity fitness apparel and Champion sports bras. And for outdoor sports, we carry skin-care products. We have a Virginia product called Dionis, a goat's milk product made in Charlottesville -- hand lotions, body lotions and soaps.

Q. What's your single best seller?

A. Specialty shorts with field hockey on 'em. The trend now with the teams is to have the position that they play, or the sport they play, on the shorts.

Q. How do you find the rare items to stock in your store?

A. The gentleman I bought the business from helped so much. I've also done research and just having so many girls involved in so many activities helped. I can't tell you how many phone calls I got that said, 'I know you only do field hockey, but can you possibly get this?' I kept a list of all the specialty things I had ordered over the years and stocked my inventory by those requests.

Q. What's the best advice you could give someone wanting to start a business?

A. You have to have the support of your family. My husband is a great help, and my children are a great help. If I didn't have the support of my family, there's no way I could run my own business.

Q. What's something that someone told you that turned out to be particularly useful?

A. "It's going to take three times as much money and three times as much time!" Somebody told me that, and they were right.